The writers' strike is likely to cause major changes in the structure of the Academy Awards show if the work stoppage continues, as expected.

Heightening the tension was word Monday that the Writers Guild of America would deny a waiver for writers to work on the show, though the motion picture academy had not yet submitted the request. The guild also rejected a waiver for Jan. 13's Golden Globes.

But as far as Academy Awards producer Gil Cates is concerned, movie fans can continue to plan their Oscar parties for Feb. 24. "The only thing I can tell you without any equivocation is the show is going to go on. That's absolutely for certain," Cates said Friday in his Los Angeles office, with an Oscar figure the size of an NBA player beside his desk.

On Tuesday, he said the plan stands. Writing for the show doesn't begin until a month before the broadcast. "It's my fondest hope that the strike will be over by then," he said.

And host Jon Stewart? That was less definite. The Daily Show host is a guild member and has voiced support for his fellow striking scribes. Stewart's representative did not respond for comment.

"If you're asking me whether Jon Stewart will cross a picket line: I don't know," Cates said Tuesday. "That's my honest answer. … I don't even want to ask Jon that question now, because I don't want him to make a decision." He said Stewart has six weeks to think about it before host duties really kick in.

Though Cates declined to specify any Plan B's, he noted that the show could find another structure without a host. In the 1970s, the show frequently had no single emcee, just groups of presenters.

"It really depends on the individual artist's conscience," Cates added. That also could apply to whether celebrity guests decide to attend.

The guild's rejection Monday of a waiver for the use of film clips at the Oscars does not mean the ceremony cannot show footage of any movies, Cates said. The denied waiver was simply for free use — usually granted because of the academy's non-profit status — and the show will instead pay roughly $86,500 for about 500 clips.

Cates hopes to do a tribute to the escapism of movies: celebrations of action flicks, the surge of animated films, perhaps a look at newcomers.

"We try to find some circumstance in the world that allows us to pin the show around it. But the world's a tough place. It's full of discord," he said, indicating problems beyond Hollywood's labor disputes. "So we're going to internalize Oscar this year. By that I mean just deal with film — the quality of films — and make this a party about the people who make films."

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The man in charge: Gil Cates is producing his 13th Academy Awards show.

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